Okay, here I am plugging the efforts of a relative. Okay, a distant relative. Really distant. My great-grandfather was the brother of the great-grandfather of a man named Henry Garfinkel, better known to the world as Henry Rollins, one time lead singer of Black Flag. Yes, THAT Henry Rollins. But even if Henry Rollins wasn't a distant cousin of mine, I'd eagerly plug his show. My wife and I caught about a half dozen episodes of the Henry Rollins Show on IFC last year and we loved it. RABIDLY biting satire combined with some pretty interesting interviews and some musical guests who ranged from a bit too avant guarde for my tastes to damned good rock. Of course my favorite musical guest was his last episode of the season where his own Henry Rollins Band was the musical "guest."
Henry Rollins isn't just a punker. He is a very angry, pretty smart man. He sometimes seems a little out of his league when he is interviewing people, but this is scarcely noticeable most of the time. His monologues can be mesmerizing, like with his shaggy dog story of his trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway with intestinal disorders and axe-wielding train attendents. His bitter hatred of Bush would be dear to the hearts of many here, though those who want to see all of us get along happily and merrily petting eachother's puppies despite the disgusting and disturbing Republican attempts to demolish our democracy in a frenzy of pseudo-patriotic war-profiteering over the bodies of our dead soldiers may be disappointed by the harsh, ass-kicking sarcasm of Henry Rollins' wit. But for those who are horrified and even a bit terrified by the direct assault the Halliburton Republicans are making on our democracy will LOVE Henry Rollins' commentary.
Politics, music and interviews are the three components of Cousin Henry's show. The politics is bitter and dead-on-balls accurate. The interviews are often surprisingly endearing, particularly when he interviewed Ozzie Osbourne where Rollins clearly is constantly thinking, "Fuck, man! I'm here with OZZIE!" and Ozzie is basically saying in no uncertain terms, "Shit, I am so lucky and happy to be alive after all the stupid shit I did." And the music is sometimes disappointing, sometimes excellent. The show overall is one of the few things I'd stay up for in my sleep-deprived existence since my son was born. Sleep takes precedence over almost anything in my life. But I would happily stay up to watch Henry Rollins because in his angry rantings I see a familiar expression of anger, desire for justice and general desire to set things right that must span many generations in my family. I would like the Henry Rollins Show even if I was unrelated to the host. But I do see distant echoes of my brother and myself in Henry which are both comfortingly familiar and disturbingly familiar. Sometimes Henry has said odd phrases that I have only previously heard coming from my own mouth or that of my brother. The show is like home to me.
But that's just me.
See for yourself if you love the Henry Rollins Show as much as I do.
And for the record, without knowing that we were related to Rollins, my brother loved his show well before I did and seemed to think I was an idiot for not having discovered it earlier. Which I was!
From IFC:
THE HENRY ROLLINS SHOW
ALL NEW SEASON 4.13.07
FRIDAY NIGHTS 11ET/8PT
This April, Henry Rollins returns with 20 new episodes featuring "the most uncensored conversations in television."
4/13 Guest Marilyn Manson/Uncut Performance by Peaches
4/20 Guest Ben Stiller/Uncut Performance by Ryan Adams
4/27 Guest John Waters/Uncut Performance by The Mars Volta
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